Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1887-07-22
BLUE BULL VS.. WILKES.
Tramp in Breeders Gazette

In your issue of Dec. 30 you give list
of the new , 80 trotters. Greenwood
you have as unknown. He is by Good
wood. son of Woodford Mamhrino. dam
Shoe Fly by Young Morrill,. In another
part of the same issue you give a very
fiattering showing for George Wilkes and
the new Wilkes boom. You say George
Wilkes has fifty trotters..and five PAGERS.
He had at the close of 1855 only forty
one, and the largest number claimed for
forty-nne trotters. and at that time there
were three PAGERS, which to make five
PAGERS would require two new , 80 pac-
ers. Ira Wilkes has. we believe, entered
the list at both gaits in 1856; he is a full
brother to Mike Wilkes (2:1GD. Blue
Bull had forty-seven , 80 trotters and
three : 80 PAGERS: he has added seven
trotters and one PAGER to the list in 1856,
which would make tifty-four trotters and
four PAGERS; but some doubts have been
thrown on the performance of Captain
Bogardus. and if he is thrown out of the
list it still leaves fifty-thrce for Blue Bull
against forty-nine for George Wilkes.
Four-1ifthS of all the trotterS sired by
George Wilkes are standard otherwise
than by their own performances and on
ly one-eight of the get of Blue Bull are
standard except by their own perform
ance. AT the close of lNS5 neither Ham
al Ii
, 80 trotter from dam unknown. Blue
Bull had two. Tom Rogers by George
Wilkes reduced his record To 2:2O, max
ing the only grandson of IIambletonian
having 20 record that is out of IA dam
of unknown blood. Blue Bull has still
two more in the , 80 list from dams not
trotting-bred At the close of lSS5 five
of the daughters of George Wilkes had
produced , 80 trotters, and six of the
daughters of Blue Bull had produced
= 80 trotters, and one a , 80 PAGER: lsSG
adds one for George Wilkes and two for
Blue Bull. making nine daughters of Blue
Bull producing standard speed, against
six of the daughters of George Wilkes.
At the close of 1855 eight sons of
George Wilkes had sired , 30 speed and
two of the sons of Blue Bull. In 1856
three entered the list for Red Wilkes. and
one for Young Jim. son of George
Wilkes; while Prompter placed two; Bo-
gardus. two; and Beavers Blue Bull.
one; or the sons of George Wilkes four
and the sons of Blue Bull five. To sum
it all up Blue Bull has four or five more
2 $50 trotterS than George Wilkes. The
sons of George Wilkes have fifteen 20
trotterS and PAGERS against seven for the
sons of Blue Bull: and nine of the
daughters of Blue Bull have shown
themselves producers against six of the
daughters of George Wilkes. Blue Bull
has two , 20 trotters from unknown dams
and four that would not be standard but
for their own performance, against one
for George Wilkes.
Probably no sire of standard speed has
given a better performer, all-in-all,
than the chestnut mare Blue Bell by Blue
Bull. Both of the get of Prompter are
from daughters of Flaxtail, IA horse that
does not appear rs sire in the 2 30 list;
and the three ear-old Transit made his
record in the fourth heat of holly con-
tested race when he beat ReXford by
Electioneer for place, the get of Sultan
being first, Prompter second and Flee
tioneer third.
The dams of the get of George Wilkes
that entered the , 80 list in 1886 are all
from ? 80 producing sires. The dams of
the get of Blue Bull are all from nom
producing sires except the dam of Lucy
Fry. As sire of 2 80 trotters and as a
sire of extreme speed Blue Bull stands
alone. He has done what no other horse
has ever done-he has produced forty
eight 80 trotters from dams not trot-
ting-bred, and he is unapproached in ex-
IRENE speed in that he has sired four 2 20
trotters from dams not trotting-bred.
The old Indiana PAGER has given us
speed and class of family horses second
only to the Vermont Morgans; and al
though he has been dead so long that his
youngest son or daughter is now seven
years old, for years to come they will be
taken from the breeding ranks and be
put into the 2 80 list, and years hence
when new crazes come up, and the
Wilkeses are not in the ascendancy as
now, when Princeps or Pancoast or Sui